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He wrote hits and and played guitar for the biggest names in pop music, and he had plenty of hits of his own. But for Bobby Womack, joining the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame represents an actual homecoming for a soul survivor.

When singer-songwriter Jill Sobule found herself without the financial support of a record label, she found a way to circumvent the business — by getting her fans to donate enough money to fund the recording of her new CD. Here, Sobule talks about the creation of California Years.

On the new album Trombone Tribe, trombonist Roswell Rudd plays with a number of groups including his own sextet. Music critic Kevin Whitehead has a review.

A few years ago, the banjo master Fleck set out to explore the birthplace of his instrument: West Africa. The results of his cross-cultural explorations are collected on a new album. He describes and performs some of his findings, with Malian kora virtuoso Diabate.

Blind Pilot conducted its first tour on a pair of bicycles, riding from Vancouver to San Francisco. Though the group now tours in a van, its members look back fondly on their early days, which included campfires and unexpected attention from truckers.

NPR's Tom Huizenga takes Scott Simon on a guided tour of a fascinating new set of opera CDs, documenting singers and their recordings from 1898 to 2007. Along the way, hear opera great Enrico Caruso in his first recording session and the penatrating sound of dramatic soprano Eva Turner.

Pop legend Prince has a new triple-album release called Lotusflow3r. It features two solo albums by Prince and a debut album by Bria Valente, co-written and co-produced by Prince. Rock critic Ken Tucker has a review.

Electro-acoustic wizard Dan Deacon made his name as a frenetic one-man band who embedded his act on the dance floor. But on his new album, Bromst, he's aiming for a meaningful sort of pop — and employing a 15-person touring ensemble.

Recent developments in understanding the interaction between music and the brain might help us avoid the stress inherent in sending one's hard-earned tax dollars to Manhattan and Detroit and Baghdad. With the right music in the background, preparing taxes might feel about the same as drinking cucumber water in a swank spa, or doing tai chi as the sun rises over the seashore.

When the gospel duo Mary Mary announced its tour dates for this spring, not one church was on the list of venues. Sisters Tina and Erica Campbell, who named their act after the two Marys in the Bible, have spent their careers taking gospel music out of its usual venues.